Judging by the rankings of the two teams going in, the state play-in game between Sedona Red Rock High School’s No. 14 ranked volleyball team and Bisbee High School’s No. 19, on Tuesday, Nov. 10, was expected to be close. The SRRHS team, though, had no problem defying those expectations.

The Scorpions dominated the match from the opening serve and posted a 3-0 [25-8, 25-15, 25-11] victory to move onto the state tournament.

“I’m really proud of our team,” SRRHS sophomore Ella Philo said. “I think we were all pretty nervous for this game and I’m super excited that we won and have the opportunity to go to state.”

Those nerves were quelled shortly after the match began, with the Scorpions opening up an 8-0 lead in the opening set. Sedona had another 8-0 run later in the set, as well as runs of 5-0 and 3-0, the latter of which only ceased because the set ended.

Strong service runs from junior Stephanie Medel and Rachel Roderick helped spark the 8-0 runs, while the serves of juniors Karla Gonzalez and Emma Beattie were vital in the 5-0 and 3-0 runs.

“I think it was extremely important,” Sedona coach Alex Bybee said of the strong start. “I think that this was a good way to go into the state tournament for this team.”

The second set was similar, with SRRHS opening up an 8-1 lead. The Pumas did narrow the deficit to 13-9 at one point but Sedona responded with a 4-0 run and cruised from there to the second set victory.

In the third set, Sedona opened up a 9-1 lead and never looked back.

At no point in any of the three sets were the Scorpions behind, and no set was ever tied after 0-0.

Sedona was bolstered by not only good serves, but good play at the net from Beattie, Gonzalez, Roderick, Philo and sophomore Bella Williams, as well as strong sets from Medel and good defense from junior libero Sarah Frey. With the comfortable lead, Bybee got junior Yaritza Landa as well as freshmen Madelyne Stevenson and Izzy Griffin playing time off of the bench.

“We definitely stayed focused throughout the whole entire game,” Medel said. “We kept our energy up and played well as a team.”

One of the challenges of this particular match was that Sedona didn’t know much about its opponent. The Scorpions and Pumas had no common opponents and Bisbee had no tape for Bybee or the SRRHS players to study.

But it was quickly clear that the Scorpions were the better team and didn’t let up.

“We played exceptionally well, especially since we have a habit of playing down when we play teams that aren’t as good as we are,” Philo said. “I think we played at a really good pace and it was pretty solid.”

With the win, Sedona will now move onto the 2A State Tournament. All games in that tournament will be played at McClintock High School in Tempe. The Round of 16 and quarterfinals will be played on Saturday, Nov. 14, while the semifinals and finals will be played the following Saturday, Nov. 21.

As the No. 12 seed of the remaining teams, Sedona will open its tournament in the Round of 16 against No. 5 Round Valley at 9 a.m. A win would pit SRRHS against the winner of the game between No. 4 Chandler Prep and No. 13 Veritas Prep in the quarterfinals later that day.

The win over Bisbee was Sedona’s fifth straight. And while they won’t enter the tournament as a high seed, the Scorpions are upbeat about how they’re playing.

“I like where we stand,” Beattie said. “I think we’re in a good spot for how we play as a team. I think going into this weekend we’ll really push ourselves and give it our all.”